The beauty landscape has altered hugely in the past few years as the largest multinationals vie for the top positions. L’Oréal, Coty, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Estée Lauder dominate the industry, bolstering their positions largely through acquisitions, which have helped to fuel growth and expand their portfolios. Significantly, the majority of these acquisitions have been in the premium/luxury sector, regarded as both more profitable and prestigious than mass.
So, what does this mean for second and third tier brands? Arguably, it has become much harder to compete in markets where the industry giants call the shots in terms of massive resources for new product development and who can dictate favourable positioning in-store. Nevertheless, beauty markets today have the largest number of successful small, niche brands than at any time in their history, suggesting that size is not always necessary to make an impact.
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